User:Askierkiewicz/sandbox

Alan John Skierkiewicz is a Broadcast Engineer working for PBS station WTTW-TV and Classical radio station WFMT in Chicago, Illinois. He began working for WTTW on May 28, 1973. As a member of the staff at WTTW, he has worked on improving television audio, developing recording techniques and broadcast standards.

Early life
Alan was born on April 15, 1951 in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in a typical middle class neighborhood near Racine and 76th street on the city's south side. During this time, his godfather gave Al an electronics experimenters kit and that grew into his lifelong interest in electronics and things technical. Al attended St. Sabina's Catholic Grammar School. A school friend had a Zenith TransOceanic shortwave receiver that a small group of students started using the radio to listen to the world. A nun at St. Sabina encouraged that interest and the group would set up a portable antenna on the roof of the school to listen to various international programs and aircraft communications. That group became a radio club. The club pooled some money and purchased parts to build a two transistor receiver. It was a transistor receiver design in the ARRL Radio Amateur's Handbook. In the mid sixties, urban migration was active on the south side and Al's family moved to the northwest side of Chicago in March of 1965. The family home was near to the maternal grandparents and walking distance to St. Patrick High School. Al attended St. Pat's and graduated in 1969. Al was recruited by the TV club at St. Pat's when several memebers found out he owned his own soldering gun. They needed several devices repaired including a camera power supply and intercom headsets. Some of the duties the TV club worked on were recording and broadcasting basketball and football games for the teams. That required transporting a variety of TV equipment to sites around the city including cameras and Sony reel to reel video recorders. While the work was hard it was also very rewarding and educational. However, one event really stuck with Al, the teachere's strike in 1967. During the strike, the TV club and studios were used to broadcast classroom lectures to the school. This was the first time Al was involved in the union experience. While not a real joiner, Al also became a member of the Choir. Each year, the choir would produce two concerts, each with a girl's school choir in the area. It was during the preparation for the Christmas 1986 concert, that Al met his future wife, Dottie (Dorothy Mae) Pelz who attended Notre Dame Catholic Girl's high School. Upon graduation, Al took a summer job and his first in the electronics industry. He worked in the final production stockroom of Switchcraft, Inc. While there, Al was involved in assembling orders for some of the manufacturers he was to become very familiar with including Shure Brothers, Heathkit,